4 Bulletproof Ways to Stand Out from the Crowd in 2018

The 21st Century is a ferocious tournament where people vie for success, affluence, and reputation. The competition for the top spot across industries in the working world has become fiercer than ever and hard work just isn’t enough to earn us a place at the peak of a complex hierarchy today. Therefore, when it comes to claiming the ultimate success, being unique has become extremely important since the best seats on the global stage are reserved for those who can prove that they dare to be different.

It has become more crucial than ever to attain a strong social stature and distinctiveness to outstrip the peers in the global runaway and doing this entails certain critical practices to exercise. The four facts listed below have been found to be astonishingly effective ways to magnify your presence and remain relevant in today’s rapidly changing work environment.

1. Understanding Commitment vs Consistency

Many accept the fact that being committed to a cause or a goal is a cardinal factor in claiming the personal uniqueness and pursuing success. That being said, regardless of the extent of commitment, one will not be able to stand out from the crowd without the ability to remain steadfast or “consistent” throughout the trajectory of his ambition.

Commitment is the ability to perceive the significance of a goal and exerting effort to actualize it.

Consistency is the ability to perceive the feasibility of a goal and investing patience in it to yield tangible results.

If you see a student constantly studying for 7 hours a day to earn straight As, you could conclude that the student is committed to outshine his peers and stand in the top percentile of his class. However, if his commitment is observed to be periodical (e.g. losing his drive in the next semester due to personal complications), we can then conclude that he has deterred the materialisation of his initial goal by investing insufficient dedication. This is a classic example of students not having the consistency needed to perpetually do well.

Commitment takes the perception of a goal, the willingness to work for it, the courage to take calculated risks, and the ability to maintain composure in light of challenges. On the other hand, consistency demands a fair share of emotional intelligence that steers us to remain focused on our goals. While commitment can be rather common, consistency is not. Many talk about how committed we are to achieving our goals and success, but rarely do we understand the role that consistency enacts in the process of being efficiently successful.

2. Identifying and Embracing One’s Limits

It is crucial to be self-aware if we’re eager to distinguish ourselves. Ironically, the purpose of trying to identify our limits is not to confine ourselves to our boundaries but to break free of them instead, embrace the challenges and acknowledge the fact that we can transcend beyond possibilities. The willingness to distinguish oneself means the willingness to redefine ourselves and show that we are bound to perform better than we’re expected.

Limitations are a familiar kind of stereotypes that we designate to ourselves. Whenever we are about to face a challenge that seems daunting, we often hesitate to put ourselves at stake. Whenever we take on challenges, we tend to break out of our comfort zone. The most favourable aspect of welcoming challenges is that every time we do so, we learn something and grow stronger. Constant learning contributes not only to our personal growth, but also to our career readiness. Hence, recognising our limitations is not to be restricted by them, but instead attempt to mitigate them and pave a new path of opportunities.

3. Cultivating Charisma to Positively Influence People

Communication is a versatile tool to deal with almost everything. Public speaking, diplomatic negotiation, argumentation, adjudication, and sales are some distinct categories that necessitate a competent command of language and tactic. Nonetheless, a common characteristic shared by successful and eloquent spokespeople is ‘charisma’, which is an attribute that enables people to organically harness attention from a crowd and positively influence decisions or thoughts.

Charisma is a powerful component of every communicative process, and fortunately, it is a characteristic that can be cultivated over time. Charisma is the ability to command people’s attention through the use of rhetorical language, relevant gestures, and engaging facial expressions. Knowing what we’re supposed to say is a fundamental and subtle part of communication. People take the content for granted and rather, focus on covering a lot of information and making people feel enthusiastic about your presence.

Finally, staying true to oneself is imperative while delivering a persuasive presentation, speech, or even an argument. So many of us make attempts to feign accents or impersonate other people while presenting or communicating, but this should not be the case if we’re trying to foster our own identity and our way of exhibiting our charisma.

4. Developing a Distinct Personal Brand

Everyone who’s worth standing out has his or her own way of enhancing the personal brand. A personal brand is an identity and a set of values exhibited by an individual that is recognised by others. While there are many ways to brand oneself, it is important to remember that the purpose of personal branding is to acquire an individualistic aspect and set oneself apart from other people – NOT to simply rally public attention.

Today in the digital age, personal brand can be best established through social media and professional social networks. Social media also happens to be the place where a lot of people spend a significant amount of their time, and everybody is accessible to one another, making the process of being ‘seen by the public’ easier than ever. Nonetheless, branding through social media comes with potential shortcomings since it is a highly publicised platform and there are risks of brand collusion, impersonation and plagiarism. Social media sites, especially LinkedIn and Facebook, are highly utilised branding platforms to enhance both personal and professional brands.

Social occasions such as networking events and conferences are also great places for us to be acquainted with like-minded individuals and bring ourselves to prominence. Unlike social media, physical social events enable us to brand ourselves through interactive activities like discussing, sharing, and negotiation.

Final Verdict

Being average is no longer an option for most of us, and unfortunately, we still tend to end up setline for average since people embody so many shared aspects, which prevent us from being unique. This is the perfect time for us to develop our own identity and set ourselves apart from the majority. Being unique and outstanding is not only a plus factor when it comes to our careers, but also a desirable value sought after by top employers.

Zay Ya Min Yin is a research and publication analyst at ProspectsASEAN. With more than two years of industrial experience in content writing and blogging, he has a deep-rooted interest within financial services industry and journalism.